Measuring the Impact of Nonprofit Health Care Organizations

Abstract

Health care provides an interesting arena in which to consider measurement of the impact of the nonprofit sector. This is a field in which extensive data are available because of the combination of third-party payment and large public programs (Medicare and Medicaid). (For an overview of data sources in health care, see Gray 1991, pp. 89–96). Yet utilization data are subject to many interpretations, as are many other measures of performance. This is a field that offers many lessons because of its rich array of ownership forms—for-profit, nonprofit, and public. Not surprisingly, form of ownership has become controversial and ideological, with both nonprofit and for-profit ownership viewed with suspicion in some quarters. Health care is also a field that is characterized by rapid change and organizational complexity.